Crossroads
by Laura Dove
Summary: Sequel to "Taboo of the Daleks". In a desperate gamble to prevent further attacks on their colony, the Latoshk humans save the life of the freethinking Dalek and negotiate a truce once again. But can such an unholy agreement survive the numerous threats, both internecine and from the outside? Probably AU because of the far-reaching consequences.
1. Turning point

**[This fiction is a sequel to _Taboo of the Daleks_, and it arguably detracts from the impact of the original story. If you prefer gloom, the perspective of endless pointless destruction and the notion that nothing can ever change, you should stop at _Taboo of the Daleks_. But if you enjoy a ray of hope in the darkness and the idea that nothing, as inevitable as it seems, is engraved into stone, please go on reading.]**

* * *

_"The right idea, in the right place, at the right time –that's all it takes," the Doctor once said. And indeed, on a godforsaken planet harbouring a devastated human colony, a daring decision would alter the course of history._

* * *

He woke up in a yellowish haziness.

That was impossible.

He'd felt himself die. Admittedly, the brain patterns persisted for a short time after death. Stasis and cellular regeneration were relatively simple and widespread technologies; assuming they had retrieved him fast enough, even a primitive species like the Latoshk human beings could probably have revived him, especially if they had salvaged parts of a Dalek life support system.

What was bordering upon sheer impossibility was that anyone would have cared to save him.

He tried to examine his surroundings. Everything looked distorted and blurry; he decided he had to be in a glass tank, floating in a warm fluid. Although he soon found out that a large part of his body was missing, he didn't feel pain.

His first idea was that the human beings wanted to use him as a test subject for experiments, possibly in order to develop a deadly virus like the Movellans had, a long time ago. But he felt healthy… at least, as healthy as a mutilated Dalek who had lost several limbs could feel.

"Ah, you've come around," a female voice said.

He could understand her words, which meant he was wired to his translation unit. He definitely wasn't in his casing, though.

"Lily will want a talk," she added.

Moments later, another woman spoke in harsh tones: "I'm Lillian Robertson. I'm in charge of the human colony on Latoshk since John Lambert's death in the last Dalek attack. I will ask questions and I expect straight answers. But first things first: Can you hear and understand me?"

"YES, I CAN HEAR AND UNDERSTAND YOU, LILLIAN ROBERTSON." So, the wiring to the speech synthesiser was functional too.

"Good. Are you the Dalek with whom we dealt after the first attack on Latoshk?"

"YES."

"You personally didn't take part in the second attack, right? You were shot down by your own people before it even started."

"THAT IS CORRECT."

"Elaborate. Why did they shoot you down?"

"I SPOKE AGAINST THE ATTACK. DALEKS MUST NOT EXPRESS DOUBT OR CONTRADICT THEIR SUPERIORS."

"Yet you participated in the operation in the first place. You must have known it would imply trying to kill us."

"THAT WAS NOT PART OF OUR ORDERS. OUR MISSION WAS SOLELY TO RETRIEVE MORE CHRONILITE."

"You could have guessed."

He hesitated, hating to admit he'd made a mistake. "I… DID NOT THINK AHEAD. BUT SPEAKING UP EARLIER WOULD HAVE MADE NO DIFFERENCE. IT WOULD ONLY HAVE HASTENED MY DEATH."

She suddenly changed the subject: "What do you expect will happen if you don't return with chronilite?"

After another hesitation, he decided against lying: "THE DALEKS WILL DEEM YOU DANGEROUS AND WILL ENSURE YOUR EXTERMINATION."

"How? You already tried twice –and failed."

"I CANNOT KNOW IN ADVANCE WHAT WOULD BE DECIDED. THE MOST LIKELY TACTIC CONSISTS OF ENGINEERING A PLAGUE. EVEN EXPECTING IT WOULD GIVE YOU NO ADVANTAGE TO DEVELOP A CURE."

"Pretty much what I suspected," he heard her mutter. She went on aloud: "And assuming you _do_ return with chronilite, are two successful missions enough for you, I mean you as an individual, to be put in charge the next time your kind needs more?"

"I DO NOT KNOW. IT DOES NOT DEPEND ON ME."

"But it is conceivable?"

"YES."

"Likely?"

"PROBABILITY CANNOT BE ESTIMATED."

"In any case, considering we have nearly wiped out your forces twice, will the Daleks secure a more steady supply by 'exterminating' us even if you return with chronilite?"

"NOT IF I REPORT YOU HAVE BEEN SUBJUGATED."

"We haven't. You would lie to your own people?"

"YES."

"Why?" she asked in a trailing voice that sounded extremely inquisitive –suspicious, even.

Again, he chose to state the truth, despite the insight it might give them into the current state of the Dalek empire: "THE FUTURE OF THE DALEK RACE MUST BE SECURED ABOVE ALL ELSE! FIGHTING AGAINST YOU STRAINS OUR RESOURCES. EVEN IF YOU ARE ERADICATED, OTHER HUMAN BEINGS WILL SEEK REVENGE OR TRY AND EVICT US FROM LATOSHK IN AN ATTEMPT TO WEAKEN OUR POSITIONS. REACHING AN AGREEMENT WITH YOU IS THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO OBTAIN THE CHRONILITE WE REQUIRE."

"Charming," acridly remarked the first woman he'd heard when he'd come to. "What a good reason to not wipe out an entire population."

"At least it's believable," Lillian Robertson replied. "Daleks are not even _supposed_ to be willing to negotiate, but it is logical given what happened. And as for us, we have suffered way too many losses already. Even if we've managed to fight them off so far, the cost is too high. We can't go on forever; we _have_ to look for an alternative. This particular Dalek might be just our best hope of saving what's left."

Most Daleks would have seen it as an opportunity to regain power over the local inhabitants and exterminate them as soon as the chance arose. But this one had already come a long way, and he saw it as a confirmation that Daleks could benefit from the willing help of lesser creatures. Even if he still found the perspective of cohabiting with alien life forms highly unpleasant, the Dalek empire wasn't strong enough to fight against the entire universe just yet.

And thus, events were set in motion.


	2. Live and let live

**[Brother Dalek: I OBEY!]**

* * *

Stephen Brown rose from his seat and paced angrily, followed by the eyes of the rest of the Latoshk Council –or what passed for it after the two Dalek attacks. He brusquely stopped and glared at Lillian Robertson.

"You're insane, Lillian!" he accused. "John's mistake was already bad enough, but now you're telling us you actively _saved_ one of them?!"

"John's decision was everything but a mistake," she retorted with a cold assurance. "While we can't know what exactly the Daleks were saying to each other, the long-range cameras still prove this one argued with their leader while all others were bawling as one, and it ended up being shot. So yes, I have every reason to think it's telling us the truth to a point. Moreover, _you_ are delusional if you believe they'll let us get away with opposing them. If you wish to abandon Latoshk, be my guest! I certainly won't resent anybody for evacuating to safety. But this is my planet, this is my home, and I'm not about to yield it to the Daleks!"

"Isn't it exactly what you're planning to do?" Helena Lambert, John's widow, remarked bitterly. "Let them roam freely, mine their chronilite and get stronger while we cower like sheep waiting to be slaughtered? Seriously, Lily, get a grip! How can you trust them to honour their word!"

"I don't remember saying anything about trust. Do you know what the Daleks' biggest weakness is?" Lillian asked, her eyes blazing.

"Their eye-stalk?" Stephen suggested tentatively.

She shook her head with a nasty grin. "Their overconfidence. While they reckon us too dangerous to be attacked for now, they believe the only thing we'll gain from our agreement is borrowed time. So, let's be smarter than them, shall we? Learn from them and gain enough leverage to fight them off when they decide to finally turn on us. You don't outgun Daleks. You outwit them."

Once the reunion was over, she stayed alone in the conference room, looking at her shaking hands until one of the Latoshkian moons rose in the dusk and caught her eye. She wished she were religious enough to believe some force, out there, was keeping a watchful eye on her. As it were, she felt very alone with her decisions.

* * *

Under the Dalek's guidance, the human beings managed to regrow his lost tentacles and to put together a more or less functional casing. A few days later and for the second time, he left Latoshk alone with a freight of chronilite.

"In your own interest, you will make sure there isn't a third Dalek attack on Latoshk," Lillian Robertson had warned. "We will give you an identification code; next time one of your ships approaches us, announce yourselves early. If you try to sneak in, you'll be shot down. If you fail to provide the correct identification code, you'll be shot down. You will then land on the Oriental Plains and mine your chronilite there. I'm perfectly aware the lode is deeper and harder to extract than the closer one, but you'll respect a two miles exclusion zone around our city. No more than four Daleks can disembark on Latoshk at any given time. And finally, you'll report to us about any change in your operations _before_ you carry it out. Basically, if you do anything unexpected, if you give us any reason to doubt your intentions, you'll be shot down. And believe me, we'll prepare enough traps that you'll never evade them all if you betray your word."

None of the conditions was truly crippling, and they were all preferable to the risk of losing access to Latoshk, so he had stifled the urge to punish the arrogant human being and accepted them.

He spent the return trip preparing his report to ensure the deal would be carried out. Manipulating his own kind was a new experience to him, and not a desirable one. If he had had a concept of blasphemy, that's how he would have described the unthinkable way he was about to behave; but Daleks were creatures of necessity. He would do what he had to, for the greater good of his species. After having already sacrificed pride and unquestioning obedience, he would sacrifice sincerity.

Two months later, he was in charge of the next chronilite retrieval operation. He thought with what could have passed as relief that, at last, things would fall back into the realm of normality, the only exception being allowing the aliens to live. And for a while, it almost appeared so.

* * *

As had been agreed, the Daleks announced their arrival, sent the right identification code, landed on the Oriental Plains, disembarked in small numbers and began mining chronilite.

The Latoshkians sent observation probes to watch them. The drones were shot down.

The former Dalek soldier, now leader of the mining team, approached the human city and stopped far enough to not break the agreement, but close enough to be noticed.

"LILLIAN ROBERTSON WILL SPEAK TO ME," he demanded, knowing they supervised their surroundings.

A few minutes later, she stepped out of a glider and stood before him, flanked with two guards who looked much less confident than she.

"YOUR DEVICES WERE DESTROYED," the Dalek announced. "EXPLAIN THEIR PURPOSE."

"Surveillance," she replied coolly. "To make sure you are respecting your part of the bargain."

"THEY WERE UNARMED," he stated.

"Yes. Was it even a question?"

"YOU WILL BE ALLOWED THREE OF THEM. IF THEY PROVE A THREAT TO US, YOUR COLONY WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

"Like we wouldn't defend ourselves, but anyway, they won't. We are not attacking you, we are watching you."

For a second, the Dalek simply stared at her. Then, without a further word, he turned away and flew back to his team. The guards let out a relieved sigh; Lillian's jaws remained clenched until long after the humans had returned to their city.

* * *

The Daleks collected chronilite and left without any further incident. The unmitigated success of the operation convinced the Supreme to send them again without delay, and only two weeks later, they were back at the Oriental Plains.

Daleks were obedient. As unsettling as sharing a planet with human beings was to the Latoshkian chronilite retrieval force, they, once again, accepted their orders without question and set to work.

Humans, on the other hand, were much more prone to disobedience, and their hatred of Daleks rivalled the Daleks' hatred of anyone else.


End file.
